Distractions
by Drizzlecake
Summary: After years of being lonely, Anna is learning that it's possible to have too much of a good thing, and that getting what you've always wanted may disappoint you in the end. After just getting her only family back, it seems her adventure isn't over as suitors, sisters, and true love takes center stage.


It's a funny thing, getting what you want. Especially for Anna, who as far back as she remembered wanted nothing more than to be around people. Well, people who weren't the unusually small number of staff that her parents had kept on after the incident of her childhood. I mean really, it should probably take more than roughly 20 people to run a castle. That was the problem with idolizing and having your parents be your best friends for the first 15 years of your life. Whatever they said went. Whenever the subject was approached, they would share a quick glance with each other before smiling sweetly at Anna and telling her that it was just the way they liked it. She would in turn blink at them with wide eyes, shrug, and continue on with whatever story or mischief she was on to at the particular moment. And life went on.

As she blew air out of her mouth in an exasperated little puff, however, and glanced around the room at the faces of men and women who she knew and yet did not. This was not what she meant, when she said she wanted to be around people. So boring, these matters of political affairs. With a slight turn of her head, her eyes landed on Elsa seated next to her, poised elegantly on the edge of her chair at the head of the table. Her hand was raised to her face, two fingers lightly resting on the edge of her mouth, thumb tucked underneath her chin. Her eyes were sharp and she nodded slightly as she listened to Lord Aldric propose a new trade agreement. She was flawless. Perfect. And unlike Anna, who was struggling not to yawn and wiggle her feet, genuinely enjoyed these meetings. Elsa had all the years of isolation on her side, and while they had certainly done her damage, they also gave her an unparalleled edge when it came to matters such as these. Where her younger sister had spent those years in search of things to do, Elsa spent them learning how to make do with what she had in front of her.

Shutting her eyes and opening them wide again Anna shifted her gaze to the window. Its not that she didn't enjoy being at her sisters side. After years apart, being with Elsa was not something you had to ask her twice to do. It wasn't even that she didn't enjoy these meetings. She loved Arendelle. She had loved it her whole life, and loved it even more now that the gates were open. She was a true 'people's princess' often strolling through the streets striking up conversations with vendors and merchants she knew by name. That was her favorite thing and that is where she shined.

Those open gates did open more than just Anna's world though. They opened Arendelle once more to trade options that were steadily increasing as word of Elsa's coronation and strong lead of the country spread to distant shores. 'The Great Freeze' as it had become to be known had lost its grounds as a means of hesitation once it became known how fiercely the people loved their new sovereign, and how sharp she was at business. And even if Anna did not have her sister's mind and temperament for negotiation, she had charm. It was her job to greet the dignitaries, make them feel welcome. That at least came easy to her. It was hard for anyone to resist Anna's exuberance and warmth. This was important, because Elsa's title of Ice Queen did not just pertain to her powers. She was the epitome of grace and elegance, but could be very intimidating. As easy as it was for newcomers to feel instantly comfortable with Anna, it was just as easy for them to feel very small in front of Elsa. Almost without fail, once meeting the queen, nobles of all manners of importance would begin to stutter and shift under her gaze. Anna would catch their eyes from beside Elsa then, give them a smile and a small wave and it would almost always serve to have a calming effect. And then into the meeting rooms they went. And that is where the boredom began. This was Elsa's territory, not hers.

As Princess and heir to the throne should anything happen to Elsa, Anna was required to attend these meetings. What she was not required to do, however, was stay focused. More often than not, her inevitable glances to the window turned into stares, which turned into daydreams and flashbacks. Wonderful daydreams and flashbacks of grand mountain adventures with talking snowmen, eccentric reindeer, and a very distracting ice-harvester who was very good at occupying her thoughts at very inconvenient times. Kristoff's face was constantly flashing in front of her eyes, smiling at her when she did something clumsy. Smirking at her when he thought he was right about something. Frowning at her with his eyebrows all scrunched in when she has done something foolish or impulsive. And her favorite, a look that could not be described in words, but was always on his face when he would pull away from a stolen kiss. Without a doubt, that was her favorite. And all of these flashes and daydreams would go round and round her head until her sisters voice would snap her out of it.

"Thank you, everyone. It seems as if we have reached a happy agreement for everyone. I foresee many years of friendship and partnership between our people. Now, please go enjoy yourselves. I'm sure we've all seen enough of this room, and our castle has much more to offer." There was light laughter, and Elsa stood, prompting the room to do the same. "My sister and I will see you all at tonight's festivities. We look forward to it." Bowing her head to the room not unlike a swan, and folding her hands in front of her, Elsa turned to walk out the door. Anna dipped a quick curtsy and a flash of a smile and followed her suit.

Once out of the great room, and one turn around a corner, was where the veil of royalty dropped, and the two were sisters again. Anna stretched her arms above her head and tilted her head one way, and then the other. Elsa relaxed her posture and smiled. "I lost you again in there, didn't I?"

A blush spread across Anna's cheeks. "Was it that obvious?"

Plucking at the fingers of the gloves she still wore in very official settings as it seemed to make people more comfortable around her, Elsa pulled them off completely and handed them to Anna. A few turns of her wrists had a small globe of snowflakes sparkling and spinning in a mesmerizing pattern. Anna was used to this. It was Elsa's way of winding down from stress.

"Perhaps not obvious to everyone else, but you can't fool me. Consider yourself lucky they find me so captivating even while negotiating a trade of fish for grains." With a sly look, the queen pushed her hand towards her sister, blasting the powdery snowball right into her face.

With a small shriek of laughter Anna brushed the cold away from her face and swatted at Elsa. "Hey!" Still giggling, Anna snaked her arm through her older sisters as they continued to stroll leisurely down the hallway. "Of course they find you captivating, oh great ice queen of Arendelle. You could read them books on dining etiquette and you'd still have them on the edge of their seats. Too bad they don't know how cranky you are when you wake up. That would send them running for their ships as fast as they could!" The two laughed together, until Else spoke again.

"Really, Anna. You know I don't mind you clocking out during these things but it can't always be that way. Trades are small right now, but getting larger and more important faster and faster. I wont be able to handle them on my own soon. I'm going to need you. So you're going to have to start paying attention."

Anna looked down and looked away. "I know..." feeling a light squeeze on her arm, she looked back into the warm blue eyes of her sister.

"I said soon, not now. Go on, go run off some of that energy I felt building up next to me for the last few hours. I'll see you at the ball tonight."

With a quick hug, Anna smiled brightly at Elsa and mouthed a silent 'thank you' before darting off, tossing her gloves back at her as she went. The queen stood with a knowing look on her face for a moment, lightly shaking her head and pulling on her gloves again. Then resuming her poise and posture, she continued on her way.

Once the sunshine hit Anna's face, her smile grew wider and her steps became quicker, guiding her to obstacles that could be hopped over or spun around. She breathed in deep, fully enjoying the freedom of the open air. She knew the path she was following by heart, through the gates and down the cobblestone path that lead to the village. Townsfolk stopped to call to her, dropping fast informal bows and curtsies, even though she had told them hundreds of times that it was unnecessary. She replied to them with hurried hellos and waves, but there was nothing to slow her down on her mission. There was only one place she wanted to be right now.

She slowed her pace when she reached the docks, distracted by a simple bucket sitting near a cart. Stopping, she had half a mind to kick that bucket into the water. Never mind that it probably wasn't the same bucket that she tripped into after running into Hans' horse those months ago. It was a metaphor, this new bucket. Nothing good came from buckets just lying around. Buckets are...

"A-Oomph!" a very unladylike grunt/squeal erupted from Anna's mouth as she felt something warm bump into her back with a snort. She stumbled forward and stepped straight into the offending bucket.

What happened next happened very quickly. A wobble, three little hops and flailing arms. She heard her name being called and the fumble of feet scrambling and the thud of something hitting the ground. The feeling of falling and throwing her arms out for help and squinting her eyes shut tight in preparation of a fall.

Then came the feeling of one hand grabbing hers and an arm wrapping around her waist just in time to keep her from falling over the edge of the dock. The feeling of being suspended in time where you're not safe, but not in danger either. She heard her name being called again, and this time she knew that voice. How could she not have known that voice the first time? She slowly opened one eye in the direction she heard him from. He was scrambling up from the ground, Sven and Olaf trying to help him up and seemingly causing more harm than help. All her boys, creating one very comical scene, she almost smiled until she realized she was still being held on to. Ice rushed over her heart and she squeezed her eye shut again. This was way too much like the last time. It was definitely time to ban all buckets.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes all at once and looked straight into the gray eyes of a stranger. A well dressed, well groomed, young male stranger. Inhaling sharply, she allowed herself to be pulled upwards.

"Oh no...no, no, no!" As soon as she was up and had her feet under her, she pushed away from him and hopped over to the cart to rest her hand on as she set about yanking the bucket off her foot. Her savior took a step towards her, hand outstretched. She help up a hand to stop him, looking him in the eye. "No! No, no! I'm fine, thank you for saving me, thank you, but I'm fine...just...I'm fine."

Stranger dropped his arm to his side and stood there with a look of pure confusion on his face, eyes perplexed, mouth open. At this time, Kristoff had managed to shake off both reindeer and snowman, and ran the few steps to Anna. Reaching her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "Are you ok? Sven and I tried to sneak up on you, but well..." they both looked down at her foot, still stuck. "Bucket." They both said at once and smiled. A throat clearing behind them snapped them out of their odd little moment, and they bounced apart. Kristoff stepped forward and offered his hand. "Thanks for grabbing her. She likes to try to fall off of things...or jump, me, I know." Stanger took his hand with a laugh.

"My pleasure. Glad I made it in time, and could be of assistance. If you'll excuse me..." a hasty bow at the waist and the stranger strode off without a second glance.

"Well. He's weird..."Kristoff said and looked back to Anna, who was again struggling to get the bucket off her foot. "You want some help with that?" And there was that smirk that distracted her this very morning. Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her back to his sleigh, sitting her sideways on the seat so that her feet were dangling over the edge. With a quick yank that made her feel pretty useless, the bucket was removed from her foot and cast aside. She glared at it as it clattered away, muttering at it under her breath.

"Anna!" Olaf's excited outburst snapped her attention away from her inanimate foe, and her eyes lit up happily. "Hello Olaf, what are you guys out and about for today?"

Olaf had become a regular sight with Kristoff and Sven. Occasionally he would stay with the girls in the palace, but some of the visitors found him unsettling and it was just easier to keep him to the village where he had become somewhat of a neighborhood pet.

"We were coming to see you! We found you, but our plan to surprise you went wrong. Thank goodness there was a handsome stranger to save you or..."

"I could have saved her," Kristoff cut in. Olaf swung around to face him.

"You fell off Sven."

"So?"

"Then you couldn't find your feet to get up."

"And?"

"Then you fell down. On your own. Again."

"Sven tripped me!"

Anna was chuckling while Kristoff and Olaf bickered. She glanced in the back and saw the bag of carrots and grabbed one out, hopping down off the sleigh and around to the front to stroke Sven's muzzle. He nuzzled into her hand happily until he spied the carrot and began to prance and wiggle around, panting. Always a sucker, she caved immediately and gave the reindeer his treat. Looking up she found herself face to face with Kristoff, and she felt her pulse quicken.

"Hello." She said quietly, and smiled as his hand sought hers out. They were careful with their affection for each other in public. When Elsa had learned of their kiss at the docks, she had wisely suggested caution. The last thing they needed to worry about was rumors of scandal.

"Hi." He responded. "What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your party tonight? I just dropped off all the ice to the kitchens. The Queen knows how pointless that is right?"

"Elsa. And its a thing, Icemaster, just accept it. Besides, I think it would break Sven's heart to take that medal away from him. Speaking of Elsa, she sent me out here to blow off some steam. I was a little...distracted at meetings this morning."

"Oh? Any reason why?" he asked slyly.

"I guess I was just dreaming of handsome strangers that like to save damsels such as myself from falling..."

She was cut off as Kristoff made a growling sound in the back of his throat. Glancing around quickly, he spied a partition a bit ahead and pulled her suddenly with him, pushing her behind it and out of eyesight of others as he pinned her with her back against the wall. "Kristoff, we cant..." once again, she was unable to finish her sentence as his lips met hers, soft and kind. Anna let out a soft sigh and melted into him, never able to resist him for long. Kristoff wrapped one of his strong arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him as his other had reached up to cup the side of her face, angling her to deepen the kiss as he had done so many times before. He opened his lips and pressed them a little harder against hers, and she responded in kind. It was the kind of kiss you never want to end. The toe tingling, can't get close enough, please don't ever stop kissing me kind of kiss. Kisses like this were new to Anna.

Anna loved these kisses.

She sighed into his mouth again as his tongue swiped her bottom lip and his hand slid from her cheek to her waist, fingers digging in and trying still to pull her closer, even if it wasn't possible.

Sven stomped his foot twice from the distance, a signal that someone was coming. With his heart dropping a little, he released Anna, giving her one more, hard kiss before taking a step back. She made a disappointed sound and opened her eyes, which were bright and wanting. In a perfect world, Kristoff would be able to throw her in the sled and they could go off together and finish what they've started over and over again. But she was the Princess, and he was whatever an Icemaster and Deliverer was. So stolen kisses would have to suffice. For now.

Taking her small face in his hands, he kissed her forehead. "Off you go, Feisty-pants. Before you get us in trouble."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right so she just laid her hand on his chest and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek, and move past him to head back to the castle. She had just about made it past him when he grabbed her wrist. Eyes wide with question, she looked back to find that smirk again.

"Feel free to let that distract you at the ball tonight."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking, smiling all the way.


End file.
